Passenger traffic takes off at Lehigh Valley International Airport

According to numbers released Monday by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, 90,000 passengers flew in and out of LVIA in February - a 17 percent increase over last year’s total of 76,963.

According to numbers released Monday by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, 90,000 passengers flew in and out of LVIA in February - a 17 percent increase over last year’s total of 76,963. (MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO)

Lehigh Valley International Airport appears to have come out of its four-year downward spiral in passenger traffic.

According to numbers released Monday by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, 90,000 passengers flew in and out of LVIA in February — a 17 percent increase over February 2014's total of 76,963.

"Improving the overall experience for our passengers has become a key area of emphasis. Our mission is to exceed expectations in convenience, customer service and amenities," said Charles Everett, executive director. "People are responding very well to the changes we have made in these areas. It is exciting to see hard work pay off."

In recent years, as it struggles to pay off a $26 million court judgment for taking a developer's land in the 1990s, LVIA has had to contend with an aviation market that's been difficult on most regional airports.

After peaking at more than 1 million passengers in 2004, the airport's traffic dipped to 612,650 in 2014 — the fewest passengers since 1985. Still, the February uptick is no fluke, Everett noted. It's the sixth-consecutive month passenger traffic has been up over the previous year.